Bunhill Fields Burial Ground in the City Road, near Finsbury Square, described by Southey as the "Campo Santo" of the Dissenters, was one of the three great fields, namely "Bonhill Field," "Mallow Field," and the "High Field or Meadow Ground, where the three windmills stand, commonly called 'Finsbury Field.'" As early as the year 1315 it seems to have been let to the City authorities, and in 1553 a lease was granted to the Corporation of this with other land, being a part of the church property of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, and the lease was again and again renewed. In 1661 the ground was underlet to a person of the name of Tindal for fifty-one years. In the deed it is described as meadow land, and the citizens are to be allowed to use it for purposes of recreation. Up to that date, therefore, it does not appear to have become a burial ground; but it was probably set apart for the burial of victims of the Great Plague, although not so used. It is a mistake to connect it with "the Great Pit in Finsbury" mentioned by Defoe in his Memoirs of the Plague, which was situated near the upper end of Goswell Street. However, about this time Tindal turned it into a burial ground. For many years called by his name, it was adopted as their place of interment by several Dissenting sects, and from 1665 to 1852, when all City cemeteries were closed, no fewer than 123,000 burials took place here. For some years after this the place was neglected, but in 1867-68 it was put in order and opened to the public October 14th, 1869. In Bunhill Fields there are now about six thousand tombs; a record of them is kept in the Surveyor's Office, Guildhall. Among eminent persons here buried are General Charles Fleetwood (Cromwell's son-in-law), Defoe, Susannah Wesley, mother of John and of Charles, Dr. Isaac Watts, Joseph Ritson, the antiquary, William Blake, painter and poet, Thomas Stothard, R.A. But perhaps the most widely known is John Bunyan, who wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress." He died at the house of his friend, Mr. Strudwick, a grocer at the Star on Snow Hill, and was buried in that friend's vault. The monument was restored by public subscription, under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftesbury in 1862; a drawing of it is here given. (6-1/2 × 8-1/8) D. 79-1896. 42. Chimneypiece and part of room in No. 4, Coleman Street, 1892 (Water-colour).